Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

The Atlantic bluefin tuna is a large, fast-swimming fish found across the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, among the largest and most economically valuable of all tuna species, with adults capable of exceeding three metres in length and several hundred kilograms in weight. It has a streamlined, torpedo-shaped body and is a highly efficient predator, capable of maintaining a body temperature warmer than the surrounding water, an unusual trait among fish that allows it to hunt effectively even in cold ocean waters while pursuing schools of smaller fish such as herring and mackerel at high speed. Atlantic bluefin tuna undertake extensive transoceanic migrations between feeding grounds and a small number of known spawning areas, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean. Intense demand, particularly for raw preparations such as sushi and sashimi, has driven heavy overfishing of the species for decades, and while stricter international quotas have allowed some populations to begin recovering in recent years, the species remains a focus of ongoing fisheries management concern.